Canasta Dinner.

It all started over a couple decks of cards. We all decided it would fun. After all, we get together with Dave and Kristi fairly regularly. What better way to spend a couple hours then visiting over a competitive, full contact friendly game of cards? So we paired up guys against the girls... no problem! We ladies were doing pretty good, I must say, with the guys winning just often enough to keep them interested challenged. After a few months, we had won over 20 games, the guys somewhere in the upper teens. Well, someone(one of the guys, no less) had the great idea that we should start back at zero wins a piece and play for a "prize". The first team to reach 25 wins would get a special dinner made by the other team. "Great idea," we ladies agree. After all, it seemed as though skill rested in our favor :)

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Well, I would say it provides some pretty good motivation in cards as well. The tide turned! The guys pulled out ahead, and I believe held the lead through most of the round. We ladies would pull up from behind... possibly taking the lead by a game (or 2) here and there. But the guys would rally and come back in full force to pull out in the lead. In the end, they won 25 games to 22. 

Time for Kristi and I to plan dinner!

We decided on Italian. 

For drinks we served a strawberry margarita (great recipe),

a white moscato, and Le Passione (both my favorite wines).

For an appetizer, we served bread with garlic olive oil.

Kristi brought some venison sticks.

(Ok... some may argue that venison is not Italian. I say, "Who cares? They were delicious!")

Our first course consisted of an "Olive Garden Soup" copy-cat recipe that Kristi found.

WONDERFUL!

(Thanks, Kristi, for leaving some leftovers. Perfect comfort food for this very snowy Sunday!)

She also put together a wonderful salad served with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Time to eat!

For the main course, I made Rolled Lasagna.

I tried a new recipe. It was good, but, needs a little tweaking. It seemed a little bland and a little dry.

We also had sautéed green beans.

For dessert, (thanks to some inspiration from Pinterest), I made

mini chocolate cheesecakes, lemon shooters, and mini tiramisu.

I must say, the tiramisu was a very pleasant surprise. I'm not always a fan of tiramisu. But this

 was delicious and the favorite dessert of the evening. Although I must admit, my personal favorite was

the cheesecake. I decided to try using ground oreos for the crust... YUM!!

Well, I do believe our dinner turned out to be a great success. And, I must admit, that

although I am hoping this round of canasta has a different ending, making dinner was a lot fun!

The guys even enjoyed it so well...

THEY DID THE DISHES!

And, of course; the evening continued with a few games of canasta!

Dave and Kristi... so glad we are friends!